Lack of work in Adelaide force model agencies to send their talent overseas.

The Royal Adelaide Show fashion parades are the latest event to be cancelled in Adelaide, following the demise of the David Jones and Myer parades.

Adelaide also lost the Harris Scarfe catalogue account late last year to Melbourne - a job that earned models up to $30,000 a year.

Agencies are sending their models to fashion parades in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Paris at a time when they are usually so busy in Adelaide they struggle to keep up with demand.

Fashion parades won't be held as part of the Royal Adelaide Show this year, due to renovations.

Finesse Models owner Brigette Mitchell said "the retail economy is down, people are not spending so (companies) are cutting back on their budgets".

"They are scared of the rising interest rates and when they are not spending, retail is down and advertising is down," she said.

"This season we lost David Jones, Myer are not doing parades, in terms of me keeping models busy, I am sending them out of this state and out of Australia."

She said she hoped this was just a cycle.

"I'm thankful that I've spent the past five years developing the overseas market because if I didn't I would have a lot of models sitting around waiting for a call. It is sad for our state."

Finesse model Emma Kirtland, 18, will model in Auckland next month and said it was a "little upsetting" that David Jones was not doing Adelaide shows but it reflected the economy.

Myalia was given entrance to the Dynasty Modeling Agency

Four-and-a-half short years ago Myalia Louise Yu-Jie Durno was a Chinese orphan, abandoned by an unknown mother on the stairs of a government building and living with thousands of other orphans in the city of Changsha.

In the orphanage, Myalia was picked up and briefly held once every six hours and put into a walker for a few minutes before being returned to her bed. She was fed a formula derived from diluted rice paste and steamed egg whites called gangi.

Debra and Seth Durno spent more than $20,000 and two weeks in China with 19 other New England couples who adopted children through China Adoption With Love, which is based in Brookline. Girls have little standing in China, where only one child is allowed per family.

Myalia is now the center of the Durnos' world.

When Myalia first arrived at Chestnut Street, she was quiet and a little scared, but never screamed as some children do.

She wanted you to hold her right away, Debra said. That was wonderful, and after a couple of days, you couldn't tell

she was new to us. It was like she knew.

Myalia has been special to many residents ever since. Exceptionally bright, she entered first grade as an advanced student at age 5. She'll be 6 in October and weighs in at a whopping 40 pounds.

Debra's sister, Laura Nelson, phoned the paper to say Debra and Seth had entered Myalia in the Star Five Inc. Pretty Little Princess Pageant, on a whim, and that Myalia had won the Little Darling Division for 4- to 6-year-olds hands down. The Milton, Wash., based beauty contest held a local event Aug. 3 at the Marriott Hotel in Burlington.

The kids picked their own attire. Her favorite thing is swimming, so she wore a little bathing suit, as well as an evening gown like a little wedding dress, Laura said. Miss Teen Massachusetts crowned her.

I'm a proud auntie and this is an amazing thing. Deb didn't want to say anything because people might think she was bragging, but I'm going to call Channel 4 and 5! Laura said.

With the award, Myalia was given entrance to the Dynasty Modeling Agency in Boston to do commercials, videos and modeling, which, the Durnos have been told, may well pay for her college education.

Debbie and I have been saving for college since she came from China. Myalia won a $200 savings bond and a check for $200, Laura said. The agency manager said talking to Myalia was like talking to a 15 year-old and that she will go to the top.

Executive from Dynasty Modeling Agency

Jesse Williams Brooklyn's New Star

In 2000, Temple University sophomore Jesse Williams visited a receptionist friend at a Manhattan modeling agency. The next thing he knew, he was posing in a Kenneth Cole ad campaign. “I loved New York as soon as I met it,” says Jesse, 27. After graduating from college he taught writing in Philly schools, before moving to the Big Apple in ’03 to pursue modeling—which led to acting—full-time.

“I liked teaching but I didn’t want to wake up 40 years later wondering, ‘What if?’” He got a role on Law & Order, came this close to playing Meadow’s boyfriend on The Sopranos and made ends meet tending bar at the Soho Grand. His big break was getting cast in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, out this Wednesday. In one scene, he plays a nude model in Alexis Bledel’s art class—and drops his own traveling pants. But you’ll see no cheek in the PG-13 flick: “My ass didn’t do well with test audiences,” Jesse jokes.

Next up is the hotly anticipated Brooklyn’s Finest, in which he plays a rookie cop under veteran Richard Gere. “I was so excited to land this role,” says Jesse, who now lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, with his real-estate broker fiancée, Arin. “Auditioning is like going on five blind dates a week and getting dumped every time. It’s nice to be told yes.”